Coaches keys lead Utah State to success
Utah State’s women’s basketball team only won eight games last season. So far in the 2015-2016 campaign, the Aggies have already won seven.
USU is 7-8 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain West. Although far from perfect, this season’s team much improved from last year.
Last year as a team Utah State shot 39 percent from the field and 26 percent from the 3-point line. USU’s percentage this season has climbed to 41 percent from the field and 32 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Additionally, the Aggies are plus seven in points per game at 71 this season.
Sophomore guard Funda Nakkasoglu is a big reason for Utah State’s success. Nakkasoglu has averaged 22 points per game in conference play. She has also dished out 5.75 assists per game in conference play.
The supporting cast for Nakkasoglu has also stepped up.
Tijana Djukic, Julianne Anchling and Rachel Brewster all average more points than last season’s second leading scorer Tilar Clark who chipped in seven per game. Next season should be even better for the young Aggies. They graduate three seniors but have seven freshman, three sophomores and two juniors to continue building a successful program.
Coach Finkbeiner preaches winning the game statistically in three categories. Free throw attempts, rebounds and turnovers. Utah State has cut turnovers down by three from last season, increased rebounds per game by one and made one more free throw per game.
“It’s pretty proven,” Finkbeiner said on Nov. 21 after beating Pacific.”If we win three of those, we’ve got a really good chance of winning. If we win two of three, we’ve got a good chance, one of three probably fifty-fifty. If we don’t win any, we lose.”
Utah State’s most recent win came in blowout fashion 72-56 against New Mexico. The Aggies shot 55 percent and won two out of the three categories emphasized by Finkbeiner.
“We were really motivated and pumped before the game,” Nakkasoglu said. “We knew we had to get this game coming off a loss.”
In its third season in the MW, Utah State is still looking for its first winning record in conference play. WAC play proved to be slightly easier, the team only had 13 losses in WAC play the final three years it played in the league. The first season in the MW USU went 8-10 before going 5-13 last year.
Utah State continues MW action this week. The Aggies will play at Air Force on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and play host to Colorado State on Saturday 2 p.m. After the Colorado teams, the Aggies will take on UNLV on the road then host San Diego State.
— kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com
Twitter: @kalen_taylor